Victims of IRA violence have joined together to write an open letter to the mayor of New York, urging him to apologise for honouring Gerry Adams.

Bill de Blasio caused outrage after he renamed this year's St Patrick's Day in celebration of the former Sinn Féin leader.

Relatives of people killed by the IRA, including Ann McCabe, widow of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, have now written to the mayor accusing him of having "callous disregard" for their feelings. They have demanded a public apology and for Mr Adams's award to be withdrawn.

The letter has been signed by, among others, Ms McCabe, whose husband was shot by the IRA during a raid on an An Post truck in Adare in 1996, and David Kelly, the son of Private Patrick Kelly who was killed in the Don Tidey kidnap in Leitrim in 1983.

Ms McCabe said she was disgusted by Mr de Blasio's actions. "This is a man who refused to condemn the people who murdered my lovely husband. A Gerry Adams Day - how disgusting is that?

"I think he [de Blasio] needs to explain himself, but I don't expect to receive an explanation.

"Did he actually look at Adams's past? But then some Americans are very blinded to Adams's past," she said.